Crime Reporting and Community Engagement

Blog

Volunteers in Police Service Support Crime Prevention

Jennifer Styles, Project Specialist, VIPS

Over 244,000 law enforcement volunteers support more than 2,180 state, local, tribal, and campus Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Programs, and many of these volunteers provide support in crime prevention. The International Association of Chiefs of Police can help you start or enhance a VIPS Program in your local law enforcement agency.  Read more…

Webinar

A neighborhood with an engaged community can work on any issue large or small. This webinar goes over how a watch group can help organize a community, ways to utilize an action plan to address a concern, identify potential community partners, and what is important to observe and report. At the end of this webinar, participants will come away with ideas to encourage others and be wiser on how to observe and report suspicious activities to authorities.Watch the Community Engagement Leads to Public Safety.

Resources

National Crime Prevention Council

Citizen Involvement in Homeland Security

This 12-page, three-color brochure discusses how two Citizens Corps programs—Neighborhood Watch (operated by the National Sheriffs’ Association) and Volunteers In Police Service (operated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police—can be instrumental in responding to threats to homeland security.

Get Wise About Wireless

NCPC produced this 2008 Newspaper in Education supplement to the Washington Times in collaboration with CTIA The Wireless Foundation. Aimed at readers of all ages, it features an array of stories, tips, facts, and games that explore how technology can be used to prevent crime and make communities and the people in them safer.

Rapid Response

These free education tools—a flier, a palm card, and a poster--can be used with NCPC’s Rapid Response radio public service ads, which provide a quick response to community crises.

Report a Crime

These outreach tools, which include a poster, flier, and palm card emphasize why it’s important to report crimes and how to do it.
Report a Crime To Improve Community Safety (Flier)
Report a Crime To Improve Community Safety (Flier) (Espanol)
Report Crime To Improve Community Safety (Palm Card)
Report Crime To Improve Community Safety (Palm Card) (Espanol)
Report Crime To Improve Community Safety (Poster)
Report Crime To Improve Community Safety (Poster) (Espanol)

Does Neighborhood Watch Reduce Crime

This single sheet, one-color fact sheet tells how Neighborhood Watch reduces crime. It provides numerous statistics that can be useful in meeting with officials, working with the news media, and preparing letters to the editor and op-eds.

Neighborhood Watch (Part 1)

This PowerPoint emphasizes the benefits of Neighborhood Watch and provides step-by-step strategies for starting a Neighborhood Watch program.

Neighborhood Watch (Part 2)

This PowerPoint provides strategies for strengthening existing Neighborhood Watch programs and explores ways that programs can be connected with homeland security and emergency preparedness.

Neighborhood Watch Needs You

Neighborhood Watch brings focus and resources to neighborhood crime prevention efforts. This colorful, 16-page publication for residents stresses the benefits of Neighborhood Watch and includes Neighborhood Watch success stories and a useful list of organizations that can help with efforts to improve safety.

Take a Stand Against Crime

NCPC prepared this one-color, reproducible brochure for wide distribution. It tells why Neighborhood Watch is important, outlines the responsibilities of those in Neighborhood Watch, and provides information about how to start a Neighborhood Watch group.

National Sheriffs’ Association

Neighborhood Watch: Creating Awareness and Maintaining Momentum: Instructor’s Book
This handbook features information on recruiting new volunteers and creating an awareness of the Neighborhood Watch program.

Neighborhood Watch: Creating Awareness and Maintaining Momentum: Training Presentation
This slide presentation teaches how to start and maintain a Neighborhood Watch program in a local community.

Neighborhood Watch Manual
This manual shows law enforcement officers and citizen organizers how to establish Neighborhood Watch groups.

Neighborhood Watch Manual (Espanol)
This Spanish-language manual shows law enforcement officers and citizen organizers how to establish Neighborhood Watch groups.

Watch Out, Help Out Your Community: Neighborhood Watch Resources for Native American Communities
This guide is intended to assist in organizing and managing community-led Neighborhood Watch groups in Native American communities.

Observation Skills:  Instructor’s Book
Designed to accompany the training courses in the Neighborhood Watch Toolkit, this publication teaches observation skills and is intended to assist trainers in building the capacity of law enforcement officers assigned to work with Neighborhood Watch groups.

Observation Skills: Training Presentation
This presentation teaches Neighborhood Watch participants how and when to observe individuals and surroundings as part of an effort to prevent criminal activity and terrorism.

Reporting Suspicious Activities: Instructor’s Book
This instructor’s book is intended to accompany the Observation Skills training presentation.

Reporting Suspicious Activities: Training Presentation
This Neighborhood Watch PowerPoint presentation teaches how to properly report, as well as what to report and when.

The Courage To Speak Up
This Web resource tells why and how to speak up about suspected domestic terrorism.